


Rose Thorns

by DeckofDragons



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Blood, Bullshit Happy Ending, Fluff, Hanahaki Disease, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-01-25 21:03:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18582529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeckofDragons/pseuds/DeckofDragons
Summary: Kokichi is ill and starts coughing up rose petals.





	1. Rose Petals

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Dangaonronpa fic and my first Hanahaki fic (and I've only ever read 2 ever) and my first fic that takes place during canon events and therefore heavily diverges from it. So it is a first in a lot ways but this is the story my mind came up with and demanded that I write so here it is.

Kokichi stared in horror at the specks of blood on his shirt sleeve. He’d… coughed that up. He clutched at his still aching chest with this other hand. It had started to hurt a few days ago, then he’d developed a cough and now _this_.

It had to be Kaito’s fault, right? He’d caught whatever Kaito had. Kaito was good at hiding it but Kokichi was better at snooping and now he’d caught it because of that. … Wasn’t Maki or Shuichi much more likely to catch it with how much time and how close they were to Kaito? But they were both fine as far as Kokichi was aware.

It didn’t really matter though. Regardless of the why, where, how, or even if it was the same illness as Kaito’s, this was going to be a _huge_ damper in Kokichi’s plans to end the killing game. He had several general ideas planned out but was still missing a lot of the pieces that would make it even remotely possible and now he had to contend with _this_ too.

He balled his hand into a fist and pounded it down on the library table in front of him, making the book he’d lain open in front of him bounce a little. There couldn’t possibly be a _worse_ time to contract a serious illness.

“You okay?”

Kokichi snapped his head back up to see that Shuichi had entered the library without him noticing. He was now looking at Kokichi with a slightly concerned expression.

“Yep,” Kokichi said with a smile. “Why?”

“Oh, you just looked…” Shuichi’s eyes narrowed. “Is that… blood?”

Right, while Kokichi hadn’t coughed up a lot of blood, he was wearing white, not a good colour to hide a bloodstain. He’d have to start carrying around a handkerchief to cough into if this coughing up blood thing persisted to make sure he didn’t get any on his clothes.

“Yep, I coughed it up,” he said as he snapped to his feet and closed the book with one fluid motion. “I’m actually deathly ill, have been since before I came here.” He put on a sad face, turning his head to the side. “I only have a few months left to live.”

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry that’s…”

“A lie.” Kokichi snapped his gaze back to look at Shuichi again, smiling. His chest hurt more than ever though, he needed to cough but held it in. “I just accidentally cut my finger playing with the knife again. Don’t worry though, I put a band-aid on it all by myself this time.”

Shuichi frowned his disapproval, crossing his arms. “I don’t know why I believed you for a second there.”

“You’d think you know better than that by now. Anyway, I have important business to attend to.” Like coughing his lungs up in a place no one was likely to see. “I’ll be seeing you around.” He lightly patted Shuichi’s upper arm as he walked by, barely holding onto his nonchalant act as a fresh spasm of pain in his chest took him by surprise.

“See you around.”

 

As soon as he was safely in his room, Kokichi collapsed on the bed in a coughing fit. It _hurt_ , like a physical thing was scratching up his insides that his body was trying in vain to expel. He was left gasping for air when it finally ended. Unsurprisingly, there was more blood on his shirt sleeve where he’d been reflexively coughing into his elbow, significantly more.

He groaned as he flopped over onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. This _sucked_ , it was so _unfair_. … It was unlikely to get better any time soon though so…

Once he had his breathing back under control he rolled back over and pushed himself up. Now sitting on the edge of the bed, he reached for his drawing supplies. He had more planning to do, he needed to be prepared for anything and everything, including whatever this new illness was.

 

The next morning, following a bizarre dream featuring Shuichi that was interrupted by the morning announcement, the ache in his chest was even worse. He had a high tolerance for pain though so it wouldn’t have been a problem if when he inevitably ended up coughing even more blood came up than previously.

He couldn’t let anyone see him like this lest they take advantage of his weakness to murder him. It had been a few days since the trial for Angie and Tenko’s murders. If the pattern up until now held true, they were due for another death soon even if the motive keycard was being kept safe by Shuichi – Kaito had stolen it from Kokichi before Kokichi could find its use. If he was going to die here it would _not_ be meaningless.

So, he waited a bit, giving everyone else time to settle in the dining hall. They’d notice his absence no doubt but none of them would care, in fact they’d be happy he wasn’t there. Not a satisfaction he wanted to grant them yet but he needed to take some precautions.

As soon as he was sure enough time had passed, he finally exited his room and headed for the warehouse. It didn’t take him long to find what he needed: dark coloured handkerchiefs that a blood splotch would be hard to spot on and bottles of cough syrup. He took several of each, especially the cough syrup. Coughing _hurt_ ; just because he could take the pain without flinching didn’t mean he wanted to.

As if thinking about it had summoned it, he was suddenly wracked with another coughing fit. Thanks to the handkerchief he didn’t get any blood on his clothes or hands this time. Good. Next, he took a dose of cough syrup, the sooner he could stop coughing, the better. Not that cough syrup could ever fix whatever was making him cough up blood but it would hopefully at least stop him from doing so.

“So, this is where you are.”

Kokichi snapped around to see Shuichi standing there, watching him. “You know it’s not a good idea to sneak up on the Ultimate Supreme Leader.” he said as he screwed the lid back onto the bottle of cough syrup, putting on an evil grin to distract from it. “You might _regret_ it if you know what I mean.”

“Uh… sorry.” Shuichi shrugged, nervous but mostly unintimidated. “You weren’t at breakfast so I came looking for you. What you doing out here? Is that… cold medicine?”

“Yep.” Kokichi held it up for him to see better. “I heard if you drink enough of it you get high.”

“That’s… not what you’re going to use it for though… is it?”

Kokichi opened his mouth to respond with a lie but ended up coughing instead. It hurt and inevitably more blood came up, replacing the medicinal taste of cough syrup with the much more unpleasant taste of blood. Thankfully he had the handkerchief now so Shuichi hopefully wouldn’t see it.

“You okay?” Shuichi asked when the coughing fit finally passed. “That seemed pretty bad.”

“Ugh.” Kokichi folded up the handkerchief and slid it back in his pocket. He looked up to see that Shuichi had stepped closer and looked _concerned_. Damn, his chest hurt. “No, I’m deathly ill, I…”

“You told that lie yesterday. I’m not falling for it again,” Shuichi cut him off, annoyed now instead of concerned.

“I would _never_ lie. I _hate_ liars.”

Shuichi frowned at him, shaking his head in disapproval. “Go get some rest, I’ll bring you some soup.”

“Aw, you’re going to take care of me Shuichi? How _sweet_.”

“Well, you’re sick so… yes, I suppose so. Try not to give it to anyone else though, okay?”

“I’ll try… to pass it onto everyone.” Under different circumstances Kokichi would’ve fake coughed on Shuichi. But with how bad his chest hurt he didn’t want to risk it possibly turning into a real cough. “I’m lying of course, I would never do that. … Or would I? Sharing is caring after all, right?”

Shuichi gave him an exasperated look. “Just… go rest please before I change my mind.”

“All right, see you in a bit.”

As soon as they parted ways, Kokichi was coughing once again. Once more, he had the unnerving sensation that his body was trying to cough _something_ up. It had to be just his imagination though, brought on by how much his chest hurt from whatever bullshit illness he’d managed to contract. Hopefully the cough syrup would start to take affect soon.

 

He answered the door as soon as the doorbell rung. As suspected, it was Shuichi and as promised he’d brought a bowl of soup for Kokichi’s ‘cold’.

“You feel any better?” Shuichi asked.

“Now that _you’re_ here yes.” That was both a lie and the truth at the same, emotionally he felt better, physically he felt worse. “I always feel better when you’re here.”

“Oh uh… um… here.” Shuichi handed over the bowl of soup. It was warm and felt nice in Kokichi’s hands.

“Thanks.” He would’ve said more if it wasn’t for the urge to cough creeping up on him again. “See you around.” He ducked back into his room, closing and locking the door before Shuichi could respond. He placed the bowl of soup on the nightstand and pulled out the handkerchief just in time for his lungs to attempt to hack themselves up again.

At the end of it he was left with more blood in the handkerchief and… a black rose petal? There was another one stuck to his tongue that he peeled off and held up to his face to get a better look at. What the fuck? Of course they weren’t rose petals, he’d coughed them up, that’s just what they looked like – he’d seen enough romance movies to know what rose petals looked like no matter their colour.

Going to see a doctor about this was not option as there were none. Kirumi might’ve served as one – she had knowledge in many areas – but… she was gone. Telling the others wasn’t an option either, they wouldn’t care and _definitely_ wouldn’t help him – except for _maybe_ Shuichi. So he’d have to keep it a secret, like Kaito was doing with _his_ illness. They probably weren’t the same illness though, in all of Kokichi’s snooping he hadn’t seen any evidence suggesting Kaito was coughing up anything that resembled rose petals.

He groaned as he tossed the petals in the trash. He had some soup to enjoy before it got cold, hopefully it’d help him feel better.


	2. Hanahaki

Kokichi moped around his room for a while, working on his plans, feeling miserable, and coughing up more ‘rose petals’ every so often. Cough syrup did _not_ help, he’d taken a several more doses, giving up after he’d almost downed a whole bottle and his cough had only worsened. Which had the side affect of making him feel loopy… he hated it.

He only left at midday to seek food and return the bowl Shuichi had brought him to the kitchen. Thankfully he managed not to get spotted by anyone, the last thing he needed was any one of them seeing him coughing up ‘rose petals’ and high on cough syrup.

After finishing his stolen lunch, he lay down for a nap. Right before he drifted off though, the door bell rung again, pulling him back from the brink of sleep. He ignored it until the bell rang again.

He groaned as he flopped back out of bed. He should’ve given up on the cough syrup much sooner, he was paying for not doing so. “What?” he asked as he opened the door.

It was Shuichi. Not surprising, he was the only person who ever visited Kokichi’s room. “Hey uh… I just came by to see if you were feeling any better.”

“I’m fine.” A boring lie, probably the most common lie ever told, Kokichi could do much better than that. If he could just… think right.

“You… don’t look fine.”

“Well, I _am_.” Kokichi put on a cheery face as he stepped all the way out of his room, pulling the door closed behind him. “I’d invite you in for a chat but as the Supreme Leader of an evil organization I naturally have a lot…”

“A lot of stuff in your room that would be dangerous for me to see or know about, right?” Shuichi interrupted. “By which you mean, your room’s a mess and you don’t want anyone to see it, right?”

“Oh uh… you know me so well. Is it true what they say? That a detective can look at someone and know their entire backstory?”

“Uh… well no, not really. I was just… kind of guessing.” Shuichi looked embarrassed; he was being shy, how _cute_.

“Oh, trying to catch me off guard, huh? _Clever_. That’s…” Kokichi cut off into a coughing fit. Another ‘petal’ came with it, thankfully only one, easy to hide in the handkerchief.

“You okay? Need me to get you anything?” Shuichi asked awkwardly once it had passed.

“Uh… no, I’m fine, totally healthy, not dying from a rare deathly illness _at all_.” Kokichi giggled at the worried look on that came over Shuichi’s face as he’d talked.

“You’re just saying that because you’re trying to get me with some sort of reverse psychology trick… right?”

“Maybe, who knows?” Kokichi didn’t even know. _Was_ this disease he’d contracted fatal? If so, how fast did it kill? What was the survival rate? … All things he both wanted to know and didn’t want to know at the same time.

“Well… if you’re sure you don’t need anything… I guess I’ll let you get back to resting or doing whatever it was you were doing.”

“Yep, see you around… unless you know, one of us dies before then. It’s been a while since the last murder, it’s about time for another corpse to turn up, don’t you think?”

The worry on Shuichi’s face vanished, replaced with a general grimace. “Don’t say things like that.”

Kokichi didn’t respond, just flashed one last evil smile at Shuichi before ducking back into his room.

After pausing to cough up a couple more rose petals, he collapsed back onto his bed. His chest felt constricted and tight as well as painful but probably thanks to bottle of cough syrup he’d drank he managed to fall asleep fairly quickly anyway.

-

“Hanahaki Disease huh?” That was the only illness whose description he’d found that matched his symptoms except for _one_ thing. “I don’t love anyone though.” Falling in love with someone was out of the question in the middle of this wretched killing game.

But he’d gone through the entire book he’d found on rare illnesses and diseases in the library and that was the _only_ illness that fit his symptoms. Who had he fallen for though? …

Shuichi. It always seemed to get worse when Shuichi showed up, even just thinking about him made Kokichi’s chest hurt a little more. Really, there was no one else it could be. ‘Love’ wasn’t the word he would’ve used though; he wasn’t even _one hundred_ percent sure Shuichi was completely trustworthy. Apparently the rose in his chest _thought_ it was the right word though so… maybe it was?

Regardless, said rose would supposedly kill him if Shuichi didn’t fully reciprocate those feelings, whatever they might be. _Did_ Shuichi return those feelings? It was hard to say. Kokichi didn’t know, which was the crux of the problem, wasn’t it?

This was _not_ the time nor place to pursue romantic interests though. There couldn’t be a _worse_ environment to do such things. He couldn’t have been any more unfortunate.

With a groan, he stood and dogeared the page before closing it. Putting the book under his arm, he exited the library, heading for his room. He would’ve jogged or at least fast walked there but he was already having trouble breathing, exerting himself would make it worse.

Thankfully he made it to his room without dying or running into anyone. He collapsed onto his bed for another fitful nap that was bound to be interrupted by more painful coughing fits. Inevitably the morning announcement woke him some hours later. As much as he didn’t want to get up he couldn’t avoid the group for much longer. He had to go to the dining hall.

Unsurprisingly, he was the last one to show up, everyone else was already seated and eating. That was fine though.

“Look who finally decided to show his face again,” Kaito said as he walked in.

“What have you been up to rat?” Miu added.

Kokichi opened his mouth to respond but Shuichi cut him off. “You feeling any better?” His attempt at waylaying an argument was admirable if a bit awkward, Kokichi would let him get away with it this time.

“I’m feeling fantastic.” He put as much energy into his voice as he could. “Thanks for asking.”

“You don’t look like you feel fantastic,” Himiko said.

“Yeah, Kokichi look like he have bags under eyes, like he get no sleep last night,” Gonta added.

“Gee thanks guys, I really appreciate that.” It was harder to sleep when one couldn’t breathe well and had to cough up rose petals every few hours. So much so that he’d eventually abandoned it and gone to the library to research what was wrong with him. On top of his chest hurting like hell _all_ the time now and the resulting hangover from yesterday’s adventure with cough syrup, no shit he didn’t look fantastic. He felt worse than he looked too no doubt, he _hated_ it.

“You also look like you haven’t showered,” Maki added in a monotone.

Kokichi frowned at her but wasn’t in the mood to pursue any arguments right now. So he just got himself some breakfast and sat at the table as far away from everyone else as he could get.

The conversation drifted back to whatever it had been before. Kokichi didn’t bother to listen it to or try to participate. Instead he focused on eating, breathing, and not coughing.

What would the others even say if they saw him coughing up rose petals? Would any of them know what it meant? … Possible but unlikely. He needed to decide what he was going to do about it though. Or just hope it got better on its own. How likely was that though?

 

Unsurprisingly, it got worse. After a too short, too light nap and a shower he didn’t feel much better. It was a rose growing inside him and roses had thorns so naturally pain was a constant thing. Breathing made it worse, coughing made it feel like he was dying.

Feeling too miserable to do much else he sat around in his room amongst all his collected treasures and doodled. The wax figure of Rantaro had been the hardest thing to smuggle in, therefore it was also his proudest possession… in this room. He had other stuff much better in his room back home… that he would probably never see again.

His eyes filled with tears, blurring the image he’d been doodling on the page in front of him. He missed home and everyone who came with it. With a sigh he placed the drawing aside and pulled his knees up to his chest. No one else was around so he could cry for a little bit at least.

 

The doorbell rang, jarring him from a light doze. It could only be Shuichi, right? No one else ever visited, not even Gonta. _So_ , Kokichi should get up and answer the door, tell Shuichi how he felt, see if he reciprocated, if he did that’d be the cure. But if he _didn’t_ what would Kokichi do?

So he ignored it. Even when it came again and again before… “You in there Kokichi?” accompanied by a knock. Yep, it was Shuichi.

Kokichi flinched as a fresh spasm of pain ran through his chest. He bit his tongue so he wouldn’t cough and thus give himself away. Seeing Shuichi would only make it _worse_ so opening the door was not a good idea.

So he sat there until a good solid five minutes of silence indicated that Shuichi had for sure given up and left. He collapsed into a coughing fit that had him desperately and painfully gasping for air by the end of it and spitting out yet more blood covered rose petals. Things couldn’t get much worse, could they?


	3. Midnight Walk

Kokichi couldn’t sleep. He was exhausted but breathing was too hard and too painful to make sleep come easy. He could breath a _tiny_ bit better when he was sitting up or standing though so… that’s what he did. With a sigh, he grabbed the book from the nightstand and left.

It was _long_ past the time everyone went to bed so it was dark. There was enough light for Kokichi to stumble sleepily over to Shuichi’s door though which was all he needed.

He pressed the doorbell. He would’ve loved to play ding-dong-ditch but now wasn’t time, maybe later though. Shuichi didn’t answer, he was sleeping of course so Kokichi spammed it until…

“What?” Shuichi asked, annoyed as he opened the door at last.

“Hey Shuichi.” Kokichi greeted him with a smile. “How’s it going?”

“It’s way past midnight, what are doing here?”

“I can’t sleep. Want to go for a walk with me?” This was potentially an idiotic move but the flower didn’t leave him much choice. It was going to kill him if he didn’t try something. Heck, even with this it might _still_ kill him, depending on what Shuichi did. Having his life in someone else’s hands was _not_ fun and was so _unfair_. There was nothing he could do about it though and he was _not_ going to sit back just let it kill him.

“Uh… you should really be in bed, you look awful.”

“Wow, even you think I’m ugly.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. I meant you look exhausted.”

“Oh Shuichi, you have _no_ idea, I feel like I’m dying.” And he might be. “It hurts a lot to breathe though so I can’t sleep.” As if to rub it in, he needed to cough again. More pain, more blood, and a couple more rose petals to top it off. With a sigh he folded the rose petals into the handkerchief and put it back into his pocket. He then looked back up at Shuichi and forced a smile. “So are you going to come with me or are you going to leave me to suffer and die alone?”

Shuichi studied him for a few seconds in silence. “That… doesn’t sound good but… if you insist. You _have_ to promise to at least try to get some rest afterwards though, okay?”

“Yay. And yeah, okay, I promise I’ll rest afterward.” Kokichi would normally lie about such a promise but if it wasn’t for the pain in his chest, he wouldn’t be able to stay awake for more than five minutes.

Outside, the night air was cool, waking him up a tiny bit more. The stone path felt nice beneath his bare feet. He’d neglected to put on shoes before leaving his room. It wasn’t a big deal though.

Shuichi followed his lead to the right and down the stairs. At the bottom, he had to pause to hack up another rose petal in the handkerchief. Was it just his imagination or could he _feel_ the plant growing? Slowly but surely cutting off his ability to breath and fucking up his insides while it was at it.

“Those coughs don’t sound good,” Shuichi said, hovering worriedly by Kokichi he’d finished coughing. “I’d suggest you’d go see a doctor but… you know.”

“I’m _totally_ fine, don’t worry about me.” Kokichi resumed walking, forcing Shuichi to do so too. He couldn’t go fast though, he was too exhausted and in too much pain “Have you considered that perhaps I’m faking it so that you’ll pity me and think I’m weak. Maybe I brought you out here to kill you.”

“That’s not true. You’re just trying to scare me.”

“Hmm… maybe.” Kokichi shrugged. He was trying to stall… but he couldn’t stall forever.

After they’d walked around the circle a couple times, Kokichi stopped. Shuichi took a couple more steps before realizing and coming back.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

Kokichi bent down to place the book he’d been carrying under his arm on the ground before maneuvering to stand directly in front of Shuichi, facing him. “Now for the reason I brought you out here in the middle of the night.”

Shuichi perked up. He looked intrigued and curious but not afraid. He _truly_ believed Kokichi wasn’t going to hurt him. It was sweet but… _how_ could he be so trusting? Especially in the middle of a _killing game_. He was going to get himself killed. … Kokichi would just need to make sure that didn’t happen, assuming of course things here worked out in his favor.

“I want you to kiss me.”

Shuichi took a half step back. “What?”

“I said ‘I want you to kiss me’,” Kokichi repeated.

“Uh… um…” Shuichi’s face flushed red. “That’s not funny. What is this about?”

Kokichi put on a hurt face. “I’m being honest for once. I’ll die if you don’t kiss me.” And he _refused_ to let his death be meaningless. He’d rather take this risk than just sit back and _let_ that happen. “I mean it for reals this time.”

“I told you, that’s not funny Kokichi. What do you want?”

“I _really_ want you to kiss me, I _mean_ it. So…” Kokichi prompted, rocking forward a bit. He was open and ready for it.

But still Shuichi hesitated. Perhaps actively not wanting to, spelling the end for Kokichi. Perhaps because he was just nervous, didn’t quite know how he felt yet. Or perhaps he still thought Kokichi was lying, typically not a bad assumption to make. Regardless of the reason, he wasn’t moving, just standing there blushing like a fool.

Kokichi grabbed his shirtfront and pulled him down for a kiss. As soon as their lips touched, Shuichi’s body went rigid. Shit! Of _course_ he didn’t feel the same. How could Kokichi have expected any different?

But when Kokichi started to pull back, Shuichi’s hand grabbed his arm and held him there. And they were kissing for real now. It was… nice and warm and made Kokichi feel all tingly and lightheaded. And… suddenly he couldn’t breathe.

He yanked himself back and collapsed to his hands and knees as he started coughing harder than ever. It hurt bad enough to bring tears to his eyes, more blood and petals coming up, falling to the ground in front of him this time as he hadn’t had time to get the handkerchief out.

“Oh… oh my gosh, I’ll… go get help,” Shuichi said. Before he could run off though, Kokichi reached up and grabbed his wrist, squeezing it tight and yanking him back. He couldn’t let anyone else see him like this, he didn’t even want Shuichi to see him like this but that was no longer an option.

“O-okay, I’ll stay with you if… that’s what you want.” Shuichi’s voice shook as he lowered himself to the ground besides Kokichi.

Kokichi would’ve made some kind of quip in response but he was in the middle of coughing up an entire plant. Air was precious, he couldn’t waste it on talking.

It was like throwing up a spiked rope. Painful and bloody every inch of the way up. It was already coming up pretty fast but as soon as enough of it was out for him to wrap a hand around, he tugged on it to make it fast. The thorns dug into his hand, spilling more blood, but the pain was negligible in comparison to everything else. Three good hard tugs that hurt like hell and it was _out_.

Drooling a mix of blood and saliva, Kokichi took what was probably the deepest breath of life. It still hurt but being able to breeze freely again was _wonderful_. Panting, he let go of Shuichi’s wrist at last – he hadn’t even been aware he’d been holding it still until now – and let himself collapse onto his side.

“What… the hell was that?” Shuichi understandably sounded confused and shocked.

With a grunt, Kokichi forced himself to sit up just enough that he could reach over and grab the book from the ground with his uninjured hand. He used the dogear to flip it open to the page about Hanahaki Disease before shoving it into Shuichi’s hands. It was the only possible way he could explain it and be believed.

Shuichi gave him one last worried look before looking down at the book. Kokichi let himself lay down again, staring up at the stars as he caught his breath.

“So… you’re implying that this… Hanahaki Disease is what you have or… had?” Shuichi asked a couple minutes later, presumably when he’d finished reading the passage, pointing to it.

“Yep.” Kokichi forced a smile even though there were few times he’d felt _less_ like smiling. “See? I wasn’t lying when I said I’d die if you didn’t kiss me. I can be honest sometimes.”

“Yeah, I… suppose you can be. But that means you…”  Shuichi gulped, his face flushing bright red. “… love me?” he forced out in a choked whisper.

“That plant sure thought so and it sure seemed to think you love me back.” Giggling hurt but Kokichi did it anyway. It was the only response he could think to make.

Shuichi glanced over to the plant, frowning. “I… guess that is what that means, huh? But… let’s not worry about that now. Let’s get that hand bandaged up and see if I can do anything to help with your other injuries.”

Shuichi took Kokichi’s hand and pulled him to his feet. It was way too fast though, Kokichi’s head swam as he stumbled and almost fell again. Shuichi supported him though.

“You okay?” He asked. “Need me to carry you?”

“No, I can walk.” Being carried would be nice though. … But Shuichi didn’t call that lie and just started helping him walk back towards the stairs. Kokichi groaned, hung his head and just went along with it, leaning into him.

It seemed to take a year or more but eventually Shuichi was lowering him onto the bench in the courtyard in front of the dorms.

“Stay here,” Shuichi said as if Kokichi were actually capable of getting up and going somewhere else on his own right now. “I’ll go get some bandages and uh… you need anything else?”

“Water would be nice.”

Shuichi nodded in acknowledgement before sprinting off as if this were a life or death situation. As a result, he returned rather quickly and out of breath with a roll of bandages and a bottle of water.

Kokichi drank the water while he watched Shuichi bandage his hand, using more than was necessary. The worried look on his face made Kokichi happy even with how exhausted and horrible he felt. He couldn’t remember the last time someone else had been that concerned over his injuries, heck he didn’t think anyone ever had been before.

“There,” Shuichi said once he was finished. “Need anything else? Is there anything we can do about… you know?”

“Don’t think so. I need sleep.” Kokichi was too tired to lie about that. “Can I sleepover in your room tonight?” He added with a smile.

“Oh uh… sure.” Shuichi replied blushing again. Not the response Kokichi had been expecting but he wasn’t going to complain.

Shuichi had to help him stand again. He was seemingly unbothered by Kokichi’s slow pace as they walked towards the dorms and the fact that Kokichi still leaned heavily on him, exaggerating just a bit because he could.

“Don’t tell the others about this,” Kokichi said once they were in Shuichi’s room, the door shut behind them.

“What? Why not? We’re…”

“Because, it’s dangerous. Someone could use this…” Kokichi gestured to himself and Shuichi, “against us, resulting in one or both of us dead. So don’t tell anyone please.” He was far too exhausted for quips, lies, or beating around the bush, he needed to make sure Shuichi didn’t blab to anyone about whatever their relationship was now. And he needed to make sure of it _now_ because tomorrow morning Shuichi would wake up before Kokichi, giving him ample opportunity to talk about it while Kokichi couldn’t stop him. “If we both make it out of here alive, we can tell them, but not until then.”

Shuichi thought about it silently for a few seconds before sighing. “Okay, I won’t tell anyone. We’ll get out of here though, together, I promise.”

Before Kokichi could voice his warning that that _might not happen_ , Shuichi kissed him again. A calculated move or just Shuichi being sweet and sealing his promise with a kiss? Maybe both. Either way it left both of them blushing a little.

Afterward, they silently crawled into bed together. Kokichi started to fall asleep seconds after his head hit the pillow. The last thing he was aware of before drifting off was Shuichi cuddling up to him, pulling him close.


	4. Bullshit Happy Ending Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, time for that 'Bullshit Happy Ending' tag to come into play. Basically I just wanted to give them a proper happy ending where they get out of the killing game together. So Kokichi does not die (neither does Kaito, his illness isn't fatal for literally no reason other than that's how I want it to be in this fic) and thus a bunch of stuff happens differently (though that was obviously already the case since everything that happened in Chapter 4 is clearly not happening here). Kokichi's reaction to finding out that everything they know is supposedly fiction would without a doubt be super interesting to explore but doing so in this fic would feel like a huge out of place tangent when it's otherwise been entirely focused on the ship (whatever led up into that would feel even *more* out of place as well as be super-duper difficult to write). So instead for the proper epilogue part of this chapter, I basically I decided to explain everything away with a 'stuff happened and now they're free' kind of vibe. It's not ideal but I hope y'all are cool with it and can forgive me for it for the sake of the ship and the happy ending.
> 
> Also, holy shit as of right now this fic has 75 kudos and 515 hits. That's *a lot* for me and far, far more than I expected, especially since this is my first fic for the fandom. Thank you! <3

“Yeah, I coughed that rose up last night. You see, it was growing in my chest because of my love for Shuichi. It was going to kill me if Shuichi didn’t reciprocate my feelings. But he does and last night we kissed so I coughed it up. It was actually really painful.”

Everyone else stared at Kokichi, disbelief written plain on their faces. Shuichi found himself doing the same but for different reasons. Kokichi had made him promise not to tell them so he’d pretended to be just as mystified by the presence of the bloody rose as everyone else all morning but now Kokichi was _telling_ them the truth?

“That has got to be the most obvious and stupidest lie you’ve _ever_ told,” Miu said.

“Yeah uh… Gonta thinks it doesn’t sound true either.”

“Even Gonta doesn’t believe you.” Himiko said. “You can’t get more of an obvious lie than that.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely one of your worse lies,” K1B0 added.

“So, this means it’s one of Kokichi’s pranks and not something we need to worry about after all,” Kaito said.

“Ah you guys figured it out.” Kokichi’s look of disappointment _had_ to be fake. This had to be what he was going for, right? If _he_ told the truth everyone would assume it was a lie and thus dismiss the evidence of it as unimportant. (In hindsight, Shuichi should’ve woken up early to dispose of it but he’d slept in because of last night’s activities.) “Damn it, I spent all that effort making the rose bloody and stuff for no reason. You guys didn’t even believe me for a little bit this time. That’s so lame.”

“You should’ve come up with a more believable lie if you wanted anyone to believe you,” Maki said, frowning her disapproval at Kokichi. “Let’s go though, spending any more time on this is only going to encourage him to try something else.”

The rest of the group made murmurs of agreement before leaving, quickly dispersing. Leaving only Kokichi and Shuichi in the dining room.

“What was that about? I thought you said not to tell anyone what happened last night?” Shuichi wasn’t even sure what had had happened or why. It had felt like a dream but he’d woken up with Kokichi fast asleep next him and he’d been _pleased_ by that.

“I meant you,” Kokichi replied. “ _I_ can tell them because they won’t believe me. And telling the truth when it sounds like a lie is almost as fun as lying is.” Which meant it was nigh-on impossible to tell when he was lying at times. … Shuichi was sort of starting to figure him out though, maybe one day he’d be able to unravel the mystery entirely. He could only hope.

“Anyway uh… how do you feel?”

“ _Fantastic_!” A lie no doubt. He’d coughed up an entire rose last night on top of the sleep he’d been missing. The fact that he’d only slept until almost noon today was a miracle. But even with the slight bags under his eyes and too-pale face he was good at pretending to be okay. Meaning he was probably good at hiding _other_ kinds of hurt too. “But you should probably leave now before someone notices you’re still hanging out with me after that _awful_ lie I told about us.”

“Uh… yeah.” Before Shuichi could second guess himself, he gave Kokichi a quick kiss on the cheek before fleeing the room, not even waiting to see what Kokichi’s reaction to such a move was.

 

Keeping it a secret proved to be easier than Shuichi had expected. They didn’t get much alone time together but what little they did get, Shuichi made sure to take advantage of. Mostly hand holding, an awkward hug or two, a few kisses since neither of them really knew what to do here. Their situation wasn’t the best one for figuring out romantic feelings and how they wanted their relationship to work. They did the best they could though.

Things took a turn back towards the worse though when the killing game inevitably resumed. Following the next execution, a bunch of stuff happened that eventually led to them discovering that Tsumugi was the mastermind and that everything they knew was basically a lie. But in the end, five of them remained (Shuichi, Kokichi, Maki, Kaito, and Himiko) and were free at last. Free to live their lives, no more killing or watching their friends die. Regardless of anything else, the killing good was over for good, they were free.

Stepping through one of the holes in the wall that had imprisoned them for the past few weeks, they were greeted by the sight of empty field of grass. A small city was visible not too far away. It would’ve normally been a mundane setting but here and now it was _wonderful_.

Nearly overwhelmed with relief, Shuichi turned to Kokichi and hugged him. They’d both made it out alive somehow. That felt like a miracle, like it shouldn’t have happened. But it had and for that he couldn’t possibly be more grateful.

Kokichi paused for a moment before returning his embrace. “You actually managed to keep your promise,” he whispered. “I’m glad.”

“Me too,” Shuichi whispered back.

“You two are being awfully affectionate with each other,” Kaito said, a frown audible in his voice. “What’s that about?”

They separated; Shuichi’s face hot with embarrassment. He hadn’t meant for the others to see.

If Kokichi was embarrassed though he didn’t show it, smiling as the turned to face the group. “We’re actually a couple, have been for a while.”

“I’d say I have a hard time believing that if it wasn’t for the look on Shuichi’s face,” Maki said.

“Yeah,” Himiko added, “and the way _he_ hugged you.”

“What the fuck Shuichi? Is that true?” Kaito understandably looked a bit flabbergasted.

“Uh…” He’d promised not to tell them – a smart move actually, considering all the tensions that had been going on among the group – until they were free and they were free now which was why _Kokichi_ was telling them, right? Unless he was just doing the thing where he told the truth so the others would think it was a lie. But regardless, Shuichi _wanted_ to tell them and they were free of the killing game so there no was no strong good reason _not_ to, right? So… “Yeah, it’s true.” ‘A couple’ was the word for what they were now, right? Even if neither of them had voiced it out loud until now.

Unsurprisingly, his words were met with looks of surprise. They weren’t as strong as he’d expected them to be though. Except for Kaito, he looked like a rug had been ripped out from under him. “Since _when_?” he asked.

“Since the thing with the rose,” Kokichi answered. “Remember I told you guys about it, it’s called Hanahaki Disease and it _sucks_. My throat and stuff _still_ hurt because of those thorns.”

Kaito took a few seconds to think before speaking again. “You mean you were _actually_ telling the truth about that?”

“Yep, he was telling the truth,” Shuichi answered, rubbing the back of his neck as he stared at the ground. “I… watched him cough up the rose after I kissed him. It was… an interesting sight.” One he’d never forget that was for sure. Though that was true for a lot of things he’d seen in that hellhole. At least that memory had some positives attached to it. “And then he showed me the book explaining it so uh… yeah, it’s a thing and he had it and now he doesn’t because… you know the rest.”

“Because you _love_ me,” Kokichi supplied with a big stupid grin and a giggle, making Shuichi’s embarrassment ten times worse. “That _or_ I’m blackmailing him to go along with my lie for nefarious reasons.”

“As much as I think we all wish that was the truth, I’m guessing it’s a lie,” Kaito said with a resigned sigh, crossing his arms.

“Yeah, if it were true, I don’t think Shuichi would be so embarrassed about all this,” Himiko said.

“Maybe what I’m blackmailing him with is _super_ embarrassing. Or maybe he’s just super ashamed to be going along with my lie. Or _maybe_ he’s ashamed because _he’s_ the one lying this time and he doesn’t actually…”

“Don’t,” Shuichi cut him off before he could finish whatever that thought was. It didn’t sound like a good one. “For once, he was actually telling the truth. And… I’m not ashamed to admit that we’re like a… couple now.” He was however very embarrassed about how open they were being about it right now, especially considering how it had come to light.

“I guess miracles do happen sometimes,” Maki said with a shrug. “Good for you two, I hope you’re happy together even if I don’t understand it. Let’s get out of here though, we need to figure out what we’re going to do from here on out.”

“Yeah,” Kaito agreed, enthusiasm returning to his voice. “Let’s get away from this hellhole.”

And with that the five of them set off. What they’d find was still unknown but anything was better than what they were leaving behind.


End file.
